First Near Miss
by Elise Marie
Summary: Fourth in my "First" series. This time, Ron and Hermione have a 'Near Miss' whilst staying at Grimmauld Palace and an argument ensues.


**Ti****tle: **First Near Miss

**Book: **Order of the Phoenix.

**Spoilers: **Set at beginning of Order of the Phoenix before Harry turns up, but I'd say that you need to have read the first few chapters of OOP.

**Warnings: **Slightly adult situation.

**Rating: **T/PG-13. Slight adult-ish theme.

**Category: **Friendship, maybe on the edge of something more.

**Summary: **Fourth in my "First" series. This time, Ron and Hermione have a 'Near Miss' whilst staying at Grimmauld Palace and an argument ensues.

**Disclaimer: All characters and the universe they exist in belong to J.K Rowling and her publishers. ****This piece of fan-fiction was created solely for entertainment purposes and no money was exchanged. No copyright infringement was intended and the original characters, situations and plots are property of the author. This piece of fan-fiction must not be archived without the author's consent.**

**Author's Notes: **This is my first time writing Ron and Hermione having an actual argument and starts to lead to their feelings developing. There's no requirement to have read the other three "First"s, but it may help for in the future. This piece of fiction takes place from more of Ron's POV which, apparently, is what they all have so far! I'm going to try and focus the next one on Hermione and her "First Daydream"!

X X X X X

Ron Weasley had awoken late again that morning, which was anything but a surprise. Despite the shouts from his mother to get up and help with the cleaning, despite the nice aroma of breakfast wafting up the stairs, despite all the racket made by Mrs. Black and Kreacher at various different points in the morning, Ron Weasley had successfully managed to stay asleep long enough to miss some cleaning and breakfast - which he was not too pleased about as his stomach was now grumbling. He had managed to find two slices of cold toast on the breakfast table and he had considered asking Kreacher to make some more, but quickly thought better of it. Ron did not even consider asking his mother to make him some late breakfast; she was scarier than the little evil, Muggle hating house elf in Ron's estimation. Now he was standing quietly, except for his loud stomach grumbles, outside of the bathroom door waiting. His mother had seen him just after he had swallowed the last mouthful of dry, cold, hard toast and had given him a shameful look. She had then ordered him to get washed and dressed and then meet her downstairs with the rest of the Weasley children and Hermione to continue cleaning. He was not too happy at this prospect because as far as he was concerned this was this summer holidays and he was wasting them cleaning a disgusting old house to which the only visitors were members of the Order who likely did not care in what state it was.

Ron waited patiently for another few minutes and then got bored of waiting; patience was not his strong suit. He could hear someone in the shower, but tried the door anyway. It opened and Ron shrugged his shoulders as to why it had not been locked, entering anyway. It was only his family at Grimmauld Palace today with all the rest of the Order off doing important stuff of which he knew nothing about. It was Ginny in the shower, singing very slightly that Ron could only just hear it over the running water. He reached for his toothbrush and toothpaste and began cleaning his teeth in front of the sink. Occasionally he glanced up into the slightly steamed up mirror, but he could barely see anything through the steam and layers of filth. Apparently, cleaning mirrors had not been deemed important to Kreacher since his Mistress had died. Ron believed that the evil house elf kept making it dirty, too, because even his mother had come to clean the bathroom since they had all moved in and yet it was always filthy. Ron shook his head as he continued to clean his teeth. He really did not see why he and the rest of them were wasting their entire summer holidays, precious summer holidays at that, cleaning this house. He understood that it was to be the headquarters of the Order for however long it was needed, but why did it all need to be clean? Surely, only a bedroom or two for when members required it, needed to be clean. And maybe the kitchen and bathroom, but why the entire building? Ron had no idea. He also had no idea why it was the children and his mother's responsibility to clean it. After all, Kreacher was still here and should do as Sirius ordered. It was not as if the children themselves would even benefit from living here for long. Once the summer holidays were done, they would all be returning to Hogwarts to continue schooling and it was their OWL year. And yet, they had to spend their summer holidays tidying and cleaning.

Ron spat out the toothpaste and rinsed the sink with cold water. As he turned on the tap, Ginny's singing from the shower stopped and she yelped slightly. "Sorry," he mumbled, returning his toothbrush and quickly leaving before his younger sister could shout at him. There were only three people in the world that Ron feared shouting at him: his mother, his sister and Hermione. Recently his sister had been shouting at him a lot more than normal. He did not always fully understand, or even fully listen. He thought it had something to do with her being treated like a child, like the baby when she was in the process of growing up, that she was no longer a little girl. Ron did not pay much attention; Ginny had always complained a lot. He paused in the open doorway as the twins approached him from further up the corridor. They got a few steps away, grinned at him and vanished. Ron shook his head, hoping that their love of being able to perform magic at any point would wear off soon. He quietly closed the door and started to make his way downstairs. Only a few steps down, Ron saw someone approaching up the darkened stairs.

"Morning, Ron," Ginny said.

"Ginny?" Ron questioned, freezing on the step. "What are you doing here?"

She too stood still, two steps beneath him and now fully in the light for him to see her face. She looked at him quizzically. "Um, we're all living here. How long did you sleep for?"

"No," he shook his head, "I mean, I thought you were in the shower."

She shook her head. "Nope, Hermione is."

"Hermione!" Ron's face went pale to the colour that no one ever thought his skin tone could go and yet whenever something shocked or scared him greatly, he always managed to get paler. "Bloody Hell, Ginny don't tell her. She'll kill me."

"Kill you? What did you do?" She crossed her arms across her chest in the same way that both their mother and Hermione did when cross with him.

"I thought it was you in there so I went in and cleaned my teeth." He looked sheepish and he kept his voice low. This was absolutely the wrong time for them to start shouting and bring more attention to him. Ginny's voice was louder, however.

"Whilst she was in there?"

"I thought it was you," he argued in self defence. "And keep your voice down."

"Oh," she sounded agitated, "and so because it was me, it was okay? Ronald Bilius Weasley, you cannot just walk in on me in the bathroom any more. I'm not a little girl any more. What will it take with you guys?"

"Huh?" Ron questioned completely confused and that was despite actually paying attention. That always happened when his full name was used, which was not too often. Again, it was normally something only the three females in his life would do. He had never gotten into big enough trouble that his father had had to resort to full naming him. That might change if his dad ever discovered that Ron had just walked in on Hermione in the shower. Their father had sat Ron down at the beginning of the holidays and started talking about 'girls' and 'growing up'. Ron had tuned out and missed most of the lecture, his mind on what they were going to have for dinner.

Suddenly there was a scream from just behind them - the bathroom and it was most definitely Hermione's scream, Ron knew it well. Ron and Ginny both ran into the bathroom, pushing the door open without a care as the twins apparated into the room too. All four of them got part way through questions of "What's going on?" "Is everyone okay?" "What's happened?" but none actually finished the question because in front of them was a dripping wet Hermione with shower curtain sticking to her body, standing in the bathtub and looking at Kreacher. Kreacher was standing just in front of the bath tub, waving a random bottle of shampoo rather menacingly at the wet Hermione. His voice could be heard, but only just because the shower was still on and was now hitting the bathtub rather then being cushioned on Hermione.

"There's the filthy Mudblood, trying to wash itself," he spat. "If only Kreacher's Mistress knew of the scum in her bathtub, she'd cry and wail. Takes me hours to clean the dirt, the filthy Mudblood leaves behind."

"Doubtful, mate," Ron commented.

Kreacher turned and glared at Ron and the other Weasley's. "Disgusting little blood traitors, you all are!" He was now shaking the shampoo bottle violently at the four of them and despite his short stature, they all backed off slightly.

"Ronald, don't be mean to him!" Hermione objected, seemingly forgetting how Kreacher had just been shouting at her.

Kreacher winced and crouched down lower into himself. "Filthy Mudblood, acting like my Mistress. Bathing in Kreacher's Mistress' bath. Talking to Kreacher like my Mistress. Mudblood!"

"Come here, you!" Both twins said at the same time and they lunged at the house elf. George got hold of one of his thin, tiny arms and Fred got the other. They lifted him off of the floor and started toward the door as Kreacher kicked out at them.

"Unnatural beasts! Get your filthy blood traitor hands off me!"

"Don't hurt him!" Hermione yelled, making as if she was going to move and then realising where she was and that she was naked under the plastic shower curtain, which was thankfully dark in colour and therefore not see-through. Hermione turned to Ginny and Ron, both of whom were staring after the twins and Kreacher. "How did he get in here?" Hermione demanded. Her hair was flattened against her face, but the angry red colour normally present in her face when she was angry was still visible. Both Weasley's turned to look at her, Ron's cheeks reddening at the sight of Hermione and the knowledge that it was his fault. He was also very aware that under that thin sheet, she was completely naked.

"Ron must have let him in when he came in to clean his teeth." Ginny replied, without even a thought at dropping her brother in it.

"What?" Hermione shouted.

"I know, apparently Ron thinks it's okay to walk in on any girl in the shower." Ginny's arms were crossed against her chest again and Ron rolled his eyes at her.

"First of all, thanks for dropping me in it." He gently grabbed his sister by her elbows and started pushing her backwards to the open door. He had to get her out of the room before she made this situation worse. He figured that despite everything he and Hermione had ever argued about, a line may have been crossed this time. "Secondly, you're my little sister. We've bloody well bathed together!"

"Not any more we don't! I'm growing up, Ronald!"

"Whatever," he muttered as he pushed her out of the door and then closed it on her. He turned around to face the wrath of Hermione. She was still standing in the bathtub, curtain clinging to her body and beads of water on both her face and the only shoulder he could see. He wanted to make some remark about 'women', but realised that it was probably not the best idea in present company. Although, she could not launch herself at him and attack in her current predicament. She was still glaring at him and Ron felt more than a little bit scared. "Maybe I should..." his voice trailed off as he tried to find the door handle behind him. It seemed to have moved though and he could not make his escape. It was not just the fear of her wrath, but also the fact that he could not seem to take his eyes from her and it made him flush with embarrassment.

"Do not move a muscle, Ronald Bilius Weasley!" she commanded through gritted teeth. "_Why_ did you come in here?"

Even without full-naming him, Ron would have been petrified at this particular moment. At least she could not physically hurt him and he doubted she would have her wand with her in the shower. "I needed to clean my teeth, didn't I?" He hoped that slight innocence would work in his favour and prevent her from noticing that she was naked and shouting at him. He tried to keep his eyes focused on her angry red face and not the outline of her wet body.

"But I was in here! What ever made you think that it was okay to come in here whilst I was in here?" She was still shouting at him and he was getting more and more worried.

"I didn't realise it was you! I thought Ginny was in the shower. And anyway," he continued as she stared in shock at him, "why didn't you lock the door?" He found his own voice rising as their argument escalated, his anger forcing his embarrassment away.

"Because Kreacher broke it. Again. And I didn't think anyone would be stupid enough not to hear me or the shower running!"

"Well, it's hardly my fault, is it?"

"So it's mine!" she screamed. "Ronald Bilius Weasley, how dare you? And do you really think that I'm your sister? How stupid are you? You can't just walk in on me in the shower. I'm not your sister. I'm a fifteen year old girl, some might say a young woman, and you can't just waltz right in. In the Muggle world, I'm only a few weeks away from being an adult." She paused for breath and Ron also took a breath because he had been holding his during her rant. He knew that it was not a good thing that he had walked in on her, but he did not see what made it such a massive problem. It was an accident and it was not as if he had seen anything. If that was such an issue then maybe she should not now be standing there dripping wet and practically naked, shouting at him. Then she continued; "Or were you trying to sneak a peak? Is that it? Your male hormones made you do it?"

"What?" he was shocked by her allegation. "No! I thought you were my sister. I wasn't trying to peak, I never saw anything and you didn't even hear me in here. Why would I want to spy on you in the shower?"

"Because you're a teenage boy and I'm a member of the opposite sex!" She was still shouting in response to his shouting, each one of them getting that slightly bit louder each sentence.

"Hate to break it to you, Hermione, but I've never thought of you in _that _way."

A hurt look crossed her face and the sight of it upset Ron. This was just another stupid argument that was getting out of hand. He never intentionally meant to hurt her although he did occasionally seem to upset her. "So what?" she asked quietly. "I'm just a sister to you?"

"I never said that." His voice quietened too, although both of them were pretty sure that the entire street could have heard this argument. Thank goodness for all of the security charms on the place, Ron thought.

"As good as."

"No," he argued, his voice harder again. "I said that I thought Ginny was in here not that I thought you were like my sister. I know you're not my sister, although you do shout at me like she does."

She did not seem to resume arguing with him. She merely seemed to be questioning him. "Then what am I? We spend most of our year living together pretty closely and then we end up living together during the holidays. If I'm not like a sister to you and you don't see me as a girl that you could spy on, what am I?"

Ron was confused now. Which did she want to be? She seemed to be angry if he saw her as a sister but also if he saw her as a girl that he could fancy. He felt like he was in a no win situation. It was true that ever since they were eleven, Hermione had been a constant factor in his life, more so than other friends at Hogwarts, other than Harry and slightly more so than his actual siblings. But that did not mean that he felt like she was a sister or even a family member to him. On their first day at Hogwarts, all of the students had been told that the house in which you were would become your family whilst at the school and Ron did feel as if there were truth in that, but Hermione was not Ginny, was not his sister. Both girls were probably the only two girls that knew him as well as guys did and that Hermione was probably the only non related female at Hogwarts that knew whether or not he snored. But he had no sisterly feelings towards her. When he thought of Hermione with Krum, he felt angry. When he thought of Ginny with a guy, he felt sickened.

And then what was this about him spying on her and being a member of the opposite sex. What did her gender have to do with anything? So what that they were fifteen? What did that and hormones have to do with anything? He had no idea why she would ever think he would spy on her. He was not too sure why he would ever want to spy on her. Ginny had been complaining about being treated as a child and that she was growing up, too. Maybe Hermione was going on about the same thing. There had been that comment about asking her to the Yule Ball. Maybe it was Hermione who had the hormones and saw him in a different light because as far as Ron was concerned she was his best friend and not someone that he had ever considered to fancy or had ever thought about seeing naked in the shower.

"You're my best friend," he answered, his voice quietly matching hers too. He was still worried that he would answer wrong. "You and Harry are my best friends and I'd do anything for either of you."

He must have picked the wrong answer because her face reddened again and she resumed shouting at him. "Well, just because it's okay for you and Harry to share a dormitory and pee in front of each other or share a shower room after Quidditch together, it does not mean that it's okay for us. I'm a girl, Ronald Bilius Weasley, and things are different!"

"You're telling me!" he yelled back at her. "Harry wouldn't stand there freezing his arse off, yelling at me for accidentally walking in on him and _not_ seeing anything. Bloody hell, Hermione, I know you're a girl. I'm not that daft. You're just a bloody nightmare!"

The hurt look from earlier returned to her face. "Nothing changes. Does it, Ron?"

He recoiled at the pain on her face, in her voice, the watery look in her eyes and the loss of being fully named. It meant that she was no longer angry with him, which would normally be a good thing, but not when she was still upset. "Yeah, it does." He knew that she was remembering their time in first year when he had called her a nightmare behind her back. "I don't say it behind your back any more because you're not just a nightmare." He paused, wondering if he was going to anger her again. "You're _my_ nightmare and seeing as you're one of only two people who I practically live with all year long; it must not be that big of a problem for me." She smiled at him slightly, but he still thought there were tears in her eyes. "I honestly didn't realise it was you in here and I certainly did not see anything. I'm sorry though. Now," he commanded, turning and opening the door, "get dressed before you get ill. I'll meet you downstairs, we have cleaning to do."

X X X X X X

The end.


End file.
